Precious Illusions
by Sandpiper
Summary: Everything is different.......but also the same. Yeah I know crappy summary. I can't say anything else without giving something important away. Just read it!
1. Exposition Part 1

This story is really weird. It's definitely alternate universe and maybe confusing at times, but just bear with me and it will all be explained. Also keep in mind that the first two chapters are like prologues to set the scene. 

**June 2001**

Sydney opened her eyes and took a moment to remember where she was. A plane......she was on a plane. As she sat up to stretch her back the pilot came over the speakers announcing that they would be landing in Los Angeles in about ten minutes. She smiled to herself and she moved her blanket aside and re-fastened her seat belt. After about a million flights she could fall asleep and then instinctively wake up right before the landing was announced, it was almost like clockwork.  
Once she passed through security and customs, she hurried out to the front and waved down a taxi. Sydney slid into the back and gave the driver directions to Danny's apartment. She was both eager and nervous about seeing him. Just two days before her latest mission she had revealed to him that her job was not actually as a translator for the State Department but as a black ops freelancer for the CIA. He was, well, less than thrilled with the news. She didn't blame him of course, the entire reason she told him in the first place was because she couldn't stand lying to him. She remembered him kissing her stomach as he brought up the subject of having a baby. It hit her then that she had to tell him. This was the man she was going to marry, spend the rest of her life with, maybe have children with, he had the right to know.  
As the cab pulled up in front of Danny's apartment she paid the driver, gathered up her suit case and bag from the airport gift shop, and stepped out. She climbed the steps up to his floor and unlocked the door.  
"Sweetie, I'm home-" she began but stopped and looked around in shock. The room looked like a tornado had been through it and there were five guys in gloves and swat suits looking just as surprised to see her as she was to see them.  
"Who are you people? What are you doing here?" she demanded.  
They glanced at each other hesitantly before one spoke for the group. "They were supposed to pick you up at the airport," he said.  
She stood staring at them for a few moments. They stood silently their eyes seeming to dart toward the bathroom door and back again. Sydney dropped her bags and rushed forward.  
"Miss Bristow-" one of them called after her. She ignored it, flinging open the bathroom door. Her breath caught in her throat at what she saw. She made a silent gasping noise and covered her mouth with her hands feeling tears springing to her eyes. There was blood everywhere. The shower curtain had torn off the hooks and was laying across the lifeless figure. Danny her sweet British doctor fiancé was lying inside his own bathtub covered in blood. She pressed her hand hard against her head trying to find a clear thought somewhere. A scream swelled up in her lungs but refused go any higher than her throat.  
Footsteps entered the room behind her. She turned and found herself looking into the face of her boss Arvin Sloane. He glanced away from her momentarily, sighed, and then looked back at her face.   
"Sydney-" he began.  
She shook her head and turned toward the sink to rest her weight against it.  
"Sydney, lets go to another room," Sloane said, cautiously taking her elbow to lead her out.  
She turned away from him and dropped to her knees in front of the bathtub. She reached down to feel the pulse on Danny's neck. None came.  
"Sydney, there's nothing you can do," Sloane said gently. Sydney felt tears spilling down her cheeks. Sloane helped her to her feet and lead her out of the bathroom. She followed as he lead her pass the team in the living room and into the bedroom. The bedroom her and Danny had shared so many times over the past two years.  
"Now-" Sloane started.  
"What happened?" she forced the words from her mouth.  
Sloane sighed again and took a take recorder out of his jacket pocket. He pushed the play button and Danny's voice filled the room. He was talking about kids and then......oh god........he talked about her being a spy.  
Sloane stopped the tape recorder and put it back in his pocket. "We intercepted a communiqué about three hours ago. On it where instructions to assassinate Mr. Hecht," he explained.  
"From where?" Sydney asked shakily.  
"The source is still unknown. However, there's no doubt that the order came as a result of the message you just heard," he said, "One of the United States' enemies decided to get personal retribution against you-"  
"Why didn't you stop them?" she cut him off.  
"By the time we received the communiqué the order had already been carried out. We didn't have time to organize counter measures-" he began.  
"Bullshit!" Sydney yelled rage evident in her voice, "We do stuff like that all the time!"  
"Sydney-"   
"You sold him out!" she shouted, "You let the man I love die! You let him be killed!"  
"Sydney, I understand your grief-" Sloane started.  
That was too much for Sydney. She grabbed a letter opener off Danny's desk and lunged at him with it. He grabbed her arms and held her away from his body. She broke free and stabbed at him with the letter opener. He grabbed her hand and slapped her hard against the face.  
The slap sent her reeling backward. She dropped the letter opener as the landed on her knees on the floor. Sloane picked the letter opener up and slipped it into his pocket along with the tape recorder. He squatted down in front of Sydney.   
"I'm sorry about that......are you okay?" He asked and reached toward her. She pulled her face away from his hand and started at him with a cold empty gaze.   
With another sigh he rose to his feet, and headed toward the door "I understand that you are in pain, Sydney, so I am willing to forget this little incident. But I will not tolerate such disrespect again. Neither I nor The Agency is the reason your fiancé is dead. You knew that you were not supposed to disclose information about what you do for The Agency. You endangered your life, and his life, and the lives of hundreds of federal agents. This happened because you broke the rules. You have no one to blame except yourself. Now, I suggest you stay in here until the clean up crew has finished."  
With those last words Sloane turned and left the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. Sydney stared blankly at the door for a few moments. She slowly settled herself up against the edge of the bed, pulled her legs up against her chest, and clutched her arms tightly against her her knees. Her body began to shake violently as the scream that had been welling up in the bathroom finally burst forth in a wail of complete agony. 

**Three Months Later**

Sydney screamed silently as she struggled against the arm holding her head underwater. The owner of the arm yanked her up by her hair, as a second man helped throw her to the ground. She coughed and gasped against the floor. They yanked her up, again by her hair, and threw her into a metal chair and handcuffed her to the back. The door in front of her opened and a man in a dark suit walked in. He had the two guards hold her down as he inserted a syringe of brown liquid into her arm. She struggled violently until the drug kicked in and she dropped off into sleep.

As she came out of the drug the man in the dark suit still stood in front of her.  
"Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. I don't know what you put in that stuff. Wow. Wooo," She joked.  
"I'd rather not make this too painful," He said, his voice a raspy whisper.  
"Me, too. Thanks. Glad we're on the same page. It's good," she said sarcastically. He leaned closer too her face.  
"Who are you working for? I'll not ask you again," he said.  
"Okay. Get a pen," she said. He produced a ballpoint pen and a pad of paper from his coat, "Write this down. E-M-E-T-I-B. You got that?"  
"Yes," he answered.  
"Okay. Now reverse it," she said, trying to keep the fiendish amusement out of her voice. She watched as he did so. The annoyance evident on his face once he got it.   
She chuckled and said "I've got bad news for you, man. I'm your worst enemy. I've got nothing to lose."  
The dark suit guy motioned to one of the guards who brought him a black kit. He opened it and pushed it closer to her.  
"That's not exactly true. You have teeth."

The creepy Asian man's ominous words were the last she heard of her dream before her eyes snapped open. The flight attendant who had awoken her pulled back and nervously explained, "Ma'am we're landing soon."  
Sydney watched as the flight attendant quickly hurried away. She smirked. Her appearance must have been pretty shocking. Bright red hair and a swollen jaw. Oh well.......like she gave a shit.  
Sydney got off the plane and boarded a bus headed for the downtown area of Los Angeles. She got off at the stop two miles away from the CIA office. She walked clutching her prize from Taipei wrapped in a white piece of cloth. She crossed the Central Intelligence Agency seal in the front lobby with the intention of depositing the device on Sloane's desk, hopefully refraining from telling him to stick it where the sun doesn't shine, and then getting the hell out of there. 

However things didn't quite work as planned.......


	2. Exposition Part 2

Okay just so you know. 0 reviews is VERY disheartening. So if there's anyone out there who does find this fic unbelievably boring by all means speak up!

Sydney sighed and slouched farther into the chair. Once she got to Sloane's office he sent her to the interrogation room and had her fill out a statement about the mission in Taipei. That was two hours ago.  
She was getting angrier and angrier by the minute. It had been almost a week since she'd gotten a shower, her missing teeth were killing her, and she wanted to wash the stupid red dye out of her hair. She sighed thinking about how damn inconsiderate it was of the CIA to make her wait around for hours after being tortured to get the device they wanted. _  
_'You'd think they'd be a little bit more appreciative,' she thought to herself.  
Suddenly the door opened and a young man with tan hair walked in. "Hi, I'm Michael Vaughn," he greeted her in a friendly manner.  
She stared at him.  
He waited for a moment before moving on, "I'm supposed to talk to you about your statement about the mission in Taipei."  
She crossed her arms across her chest and shifted with boredom.  
"Why don't we go talk in my office," he suggested. He moved to the door and held it open looking at her expectantly. She paused for a moment to see if she could intimidate him into changing his mind, but he didn't so she stood up and followed him out the door.

In his office she plopped down into a chair while he went around to the desk. She stared at the picture of him with his arm around a blonde woman. He turned the picture away from her, and she looked up at him disinterestedly.   
"Okay, here's the deal. Executive Director Sloane has recommended that you be transferred off freelance duty-"Agent Vaughn explained.  
"He what?" Sydney asked.  
"Sloane feels that you would be better off working in another department-"  
Sydney shook hear head in disbelief and pulled a packet of cigarettes out of her pocket and lit one up.  
"Would you mind not smoking in here?" Vaughn asked. She stared at him and exhaled a cloud of smoke in response.   
"I see what's going on, so you can just go ahead and put in your little report that I'm unstable and a risk to The Agency........give them a reason to kick me out. See if I care." she said.  
"Sloane's concern is mainly for your safety. On the mission in Taipei you were out of contact for nearly three weeks-"  
"I still got your device didn't I?" she cut in harshly.  
"Yes, but you also almost got killed in the process," he pointed out, leaned forward, took the cigarette out of her hand a deposited it in a mug of coffee that was now cold.  
"If you'll excuse me I'll see if your evaluation from Dr. Barnett is ready," he said and left the room.  
Sydney sighed irritated. Wonderful, they were having the CIA shrink go over her statement. She took out a another cigarette and her match book and lit it. She tossed the match into the waste basket and smiled when a little bit of smoke began to rise out the top.  
Vaughn came back in the door. "Well they aren't done yet but I'll be in contact once they are. You need a dentist. Do you have one? Because I can get you a name."  
"I'm fine," she cut in, "So you expect me to be working for you?"  
"Actually we'll both be working under Director Kendall with the FBI," he explained, "Out joint task forces center is about three miles away from your home......what?"  
She laughed and shook her head, "You wouldn't tell me the location until it was certain that I was going to be working there."  
"Unless I had an instinct about you," he said jokingly. She stared at him skeptically.   
"I'm not trying to play you," he said.  
"Yeah, we'll see," she said and stood to leave the office. At the door she stopped and turned around, "By the way, your garbage can is on fire."  
She continued away from the office, smirking at the obscenities coming from behind her.  
'I win again,' she thought triumphantly.

**Two Weeks Later**

"Seriously Syd! You would not believe this customer!" Francie exclaimed while fixing up her morning cup of coffee.  
"Yeah?" She asked as she sat down at the kitchen table and lit a cigarette.  
"Oh yeah! He actually had the audacity to ask if I washed my hands after using the bathroom!" She said.  
Sydney laughed, "Oh, hon, I'm sorry."  
"Oh that's not the best part after that he-Sydney!" Francie glared as the turned around. Sydney sighed, feeling like a child caught doing something naughty. "Okay, I know we've been over this a million times but seriously girl!"  
"Fran I know-"  
"Sydney..........you hate smoking!" Francie said sitting down in front of her, "In college you once caught me smoking at a party and didn't let me hear the end of it until we graduated! Our sophomore year you even asked your British Lit professor to not smoke in class!"  
"I know!" Sydney said again.  
"Honey, I'm just trying to help you. I know that there is no possible way your opinion has changed that much," she said softly.  
Sydney sighed. Francie was right, she had always despised smoking. She started after Danny's death because it was a distraction, and she was now just because it had become a habit. She stared at the burning white stick in her hand. "You're right!" she said suddenly.  
It caught Francie off guard, "What?"  
"You're right. If I don't stop now I'll hate myself, so take them," she said and handed over her pack and matchbook.  
"Are you sure?" Francie asked cautiously.  
"Yes, I'm sure! Go, go! Get them away from me!" Sydney laughed.  
"Okay," Francie said and walked away giggling.  
Sydney shook her head and stood up, "I've got to get to work. See you later."  
"Bye!" Francie called after her.

Sydney walked through the halls of the joint task forces center looking over the op tech for the mission she was leaving for that night. When she was first transferred she expected that it would be a step down, but what they were doing was actually just as big, if not bigger, than what she had been doing for Sloane. As she turned the corner her father appeared in front of her.  
"Dad, hey," she said.  
"Hi," he answered, "I hear you're going to Morocco?"  
"Yeah, tonight actually," she answered.  
"Ahh," he nodded. They stood in an awkward silence for a moment. She had only found out that he worked for the CIA also a little while ago. She had been angry at him for not telling her so things had been even more tense than usual between them. Finally she decided that since she seemed to be on a self improving track that day, so she might as well keep with it.  
"Dad... could we have dinner? How about Thursday, do you have plans?" She asked. The look on his face made her want to scream. Why should she feel stupid for something like asking her father to eat dinner with her? Normal people did that right?  
"No. Thursday. Dinner. That'll be fine," he said. He hesitated like he wanted to say more but simply walked off.  
She stood for a moment and then turned her attention back to the op tech.

**Thursday**

Forty-three minutes and twenty seconds. That was exactly how long she waited alone at the restaurant before her father called to tell her he couldn't make. 'Yeah, couldn't! More like wouldn't!' she thought to herself. She squinted her eyes together very hard to try to keep back the tears. She refused to cry over this. She was not a little girl anymore. If he didn't want to know her then that was his problem!

"I'm sorry to call you," she said a few minutes later at the pier. She couldn't believe that she was standing here sobbing in front of a man she hardly knew. However, she found herself dialing Vaughn's number without even realizing what she was doing, "I just didn't know who else to call. My father and I were supposed to have dinner tonight. The first time since I was a kid. I can't even remember the last time. He just didn't show. He said he had work. He didn't have work."  
She paused, "This isn't just about my dad. It's....it's everything. You read about how Danny died right?"  
Vaughn nodded.  
"Well after that happened. I just lost it I guess. My life has been out of control ever since then and I don't know how to get it back."  
"Sydney...." he started gently.  
"I feel like I'm losing my mind! Like I don't even know who I am anymore, or what I'm doing, or why I'm doing it!" she said sobbing.   
"I mean, when I first met you I....I lit your trashcan in fire for no particular reason," she exclaimed then added, "Sorry about that by the way."  
He laughed then turned serious again, "Okay, listen to me. There's something you need to know. When you first walked into my office with that stupid Bozo hair, I thought you were crazy. I thought that there was no way anyone in the right mind trust you with a mission of national security. But I watched you, and I read your statement, and I've seen... I've seen how you think, I've seen how you work, I've seen how you are in this job. In this job, you see darkness. You see the worst in people and though the jobs are different and the missions change, and the enemies have a thousand names, the one crucial thing, the one real responsibility you have is to not let your rage, and your resentment, and your disgust, darken you. When you're at your absolute lowest, at your most depressed, just remember that you can always... you know. You got my number."  
She looked at the man standing next to her who she had first regarded as an idiotic desk jockey and wondered what it was in her that made her trust him enough to open up to him. She turned back out toward the ocean and watched the dark waves. "Thank you," she finally said.


	3. Chapter 1

**One Year Later**

**Nice**

"You sure you don't want to talk about this?" Weiss asked as he handed Vaughn a cup of coffee.  
"There's nothing to talk about," Vaughn said pretending to be completely focused on the mission, even though there was nothing happening to focus on yet. He knew that Weiss would notice how irritated Sydney had been at him back in LA before they left, but somehow he hoped that he wouldn't bring it up. Yeah....sure.  
"I share my fights with you!" Weiss said.  
Vaughn looked at him, "No you don't."  
"Yeah, I do. Remember when Alan pissed in the living room?" Weiss pointed out.  
"That was your dog!" Vaughn shot back.  
"Yeah, but I was angry about it and I let you know how upset I was," Weiss argued. Vaughn shook his head and considered telling Weiss that housetraining problems did not exactly constitute a fight, but decided against it.  
"I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but you don't have to do that,"  
"I know I don't have to. As a matter of face if I weren't your friend I would tell you to just quit your damn whining-"  
"Hey! You were the one that brought it up!" Vaughn argued.  
"However!" Weiss cut in, annoyed at being interrupted, "I am your friend, so I want to hear about it! Tell me!"  
Vaughn sighed "It was just a disagreement about Jack, among other things."  
"What other things?" Weiss asked.  
"What? What other things?," Vaughn said.  
"You just said other things," Weiss said.  
"There are no other things! It's just an expression." Vaughn argued.  
"All right, here's a thought," Weiss said after a moment, "Tell her how you feel," Vaughn gave him a look, "I know, I know, I was the one who said this is a line you don't cross but that was before I nearly died. And you know what they say about the white light and all that? No. They're wrong. It's darkness. Darkness."  
Vaughn waited for a moment the finally said, "I understand."   
He did understand what Weiss was trying to, very inarticulately, say. He wasn't sure though. Him and Sydney had argued about him not telling her that he knew about the bugs her father found in his home, but he didn't mention that she also brought up Alice because he was afraid he would read too much into it.   
He was interrupted when the man they were looking for came onto the screen. "Okay here we go," Weiss said and flipped on their connection to Sydney's comm.

Sydney walked through the airport behind Schatz at his bodyguards. She pushed up her sunglasses that allowed her to see through his clothes. The Gyroscope that they were looking for was in a shoulder harness under his coat. She turned activated the Artful Dodger the way Marshall had shown her and headed toward the security station.  
"How you doin'?" she said to the guard in a New York accent. As she passed through the detector it beeped. The guard automatically stopped her.  
"Oh oh oh ! Voulez-vous repasser mademoiselle, s'il vous plaît," he said, telling her to go back through.  
"It wasn't me!" she said.  
"Si c'est vous. Bracelet, collier... Allez," he said motioning for her to take them off. She sighed and began pulling off all the punk jewelry she had on. Meanwhile she saw the second security guard checking Schatz's ticket.  
"Damn machine, happens every time I go through these," she complained.  
"C'est seulement pour votre sécurité mademoiselle. Merci," the guard said.  
"Whatevah. At JFK I went through five times, they literally had me take off my shirt," She tossed the last piece other than the ring in to the basket and walked through again, it went off again as planned.  
"Oh, my gawd!" she yelled.  
"Allez, suivez-moi, on va passer à côté, s'il vous plaît," he said, taking her by the arm.  
"Hey watch the hand. It's not a date!" she pulled back, as she did so she spotted Schatz walking through the machine. "I see, you wanna get your thrills?" she said, removed her jacket, and went back through the machine bumping into Schatz along the way.  
"Excusez-moi," she flirted as she slipped the gyroscope out of the harness beneath his coat. On the other side she put the jacket on the conveyer belt and walked back through. No beep.  
"Merci, mademoiselle," the guard said.  
"Thank you," she huffed and slipped the gyroscope into her bag as she walked away.

She put her jacket back on as she walked toward the utility room that the CIA was using to monitor the airport. When she walked in Weiss was the first to come up to her.  
"Good work," he said.  
"Okay," Vaughn said, hanging up the phone, "They said everything is fine. We should be out of here in three hours or so."  
She looked at him briefly then went over to a table to unpack the gyroscope. She was still irritated at him for not telling her about the problems her father was having, and she was mad at herself for bring up Alice while they were arguing. But damn it was it too much to ask to be informed things about her own father?! She heard him stepping up beside her as she was muddling over that.   
"Listen, uh, do you want to go to dinner? When we were driving into town I saw this place. Rousseau, I think it's called," he said.   
That was certainly not what she'd expected. "Vaughn, we... we can't do that," she said.  
"Why not?" he asked.  
"Well, we have work to do........and we're leaving soon," she responded, 'and I'm supposed to be mad at you' she added silently.  
"We've got the gyroscope, we're not leaving for three hours, and I am hungry. I'm starving. I mean, we're going to be together anyway, why can't we be eating? Aren't you hungry?" he asked.  
"Yeah I'm hungry," she said after a pause, "Let's do it."  
"Yeah?" he asked smiling.  
She nodded, "I'm going to change."  
"That's a good idea," he said as they laughed at her purple haired punk costume.  
"Okay," she said.  
As Sydney walked off Weiss creped up to where Vaughn was still standing. "And?" he said, obviously trying to contain his curiosity.  
"We're going to dinner," he answered as he re-remembered how to breath.  
"Ooooh yah!" Weiss said and did a celebratory dance.  
"Okay, in exchange for this I'll take an éclair."  
"Right," Vaughn laughed as he walked off to go change.  
"If they're small, bring at least two," Weiss called after him.

"Voilà, par là. Alors, vous restez en ville?" Monsieur Rousseau asked as they walked into the small bistro.  
"Non, de passage seulement. On va à Avignon. Ma mère est née à Montpellier." Vaughn answered.  
"Well, you speak French almost as well as I do," he said looking pleased, he turned to Sydney and gestured to take her coat "Mademoiselle."  
"Thank you," she said and handed it too him as they sat down.  
"See what you like and I'll be right back," he said. With that Monsieur Rousseau turned and walked away, leaving an awkward silence in his wake. They half smiled at each other and glanced at their menus.   
After a few of the longest seconds in history Sydney finally jumped in, "I think wine would help the situation."  
"I was just thinking the same thing. S'il vous plait?" Vaughn agreed, Rousseau quickly stepped back over, "We'd like a bottle of red wine please."  
"Oh yes, of course," Rousseau nodded and left to go get it.  
Sydney sort of signed and laughed at the same time. This was really ridiculous. They'd known each other for a year and had almost been killed together several times but they were nervous about simple dinner?  
"So I heard you on the phone with base ops. Your code name is Boy Scout?" she asked, trying keep away another awkward silence.  
"Yeah," he laughed.  
"Why?"  
"Um, it goes back to CST -- clandestine service training," he started then hesitated, "You don't want to hear this."  
"Vaughn."  
"Okay, the Boy Scouts have a motto--"  
"Always be prepared," she finished.  
He nodded, "On my first day, I showed up and I had forgotten my field manual so the instructor said, "That is your one screw up. From now on, you'd better be prepared."  
She laughed and he simply nodded and said, "Aren't you glad you asked?"  
"It's okay," she said still laughing. Rousseau returned with their bottle of wine, so they paused while he poured their glasses.  
"Tell me about your pets," Vaughn said once Rousseau had gone.  
"What?" she asked.  
"Your pets. I want to know about every pet you ever had," he said.  
She smiled at the sheer randomness of the question, "Well not many actually. I had some goldfish my freshman year in college. The frat house next to my dorm went around knocking on doors after pledge week asking people if they wanted the fish they had left over."  
He chuckled and waited for her to continue.  
"And um......." her expression changed as she continued, "....when I was five I had a puppy."  
"And?"  
"And what?" she asked hoping he would drop the subject. He gave her a look.  
"It died about five months later," she said, "Do you remember when I told you about that camping trip where I broke my arm?"  
"Yeah" he said.  
"Well what happened was that while my mom and I were out hiking he broke free from where he was tied, ran up to the road and got hit by a car. My parents told me later that afternoon and I just went crazy. I cried, I screamed at my dad saying that it was his fault he should have saved him, and then I went running off into the woods alone. I got about......I don't know fifty feet when I tripped and went rolling down a hill. My parents found me a couple seconds later and took me to the hospital," she said, "Once the doctor was finished we were alone in the room. I remember I was scared and angry. I expected them to yell at me and tell me I was bad but they didn't. They simply that it had been a terrible day and that I should think about it and learn from it and if I did that then it would be a day that I grew up a little, and then they just left, I guess to fill out paper work or something."  
"They were right about something though........I did grow up a little," she finished. A silence followed as she sipped her wine.  
Vaughn thought for a moment and then said, "You know when I was in college we had this guy our dorm who would steal food from people's refrigerators, so everyone on our floor together and set one up with a trap so that it would dump a bucket cream corn on anyone who opened it without moving the bucket. So later that day we heard a crash from the room where we set up the bucket but it wasn't the person who had been stealing................it turns out my roommate forgot to mention that his mother was coming to visit that day."  
As Vaughn finished his story Sydney sat confused for a moment before asking, "What does that have to do with anything?"  
"Nothing, I was hoping it would make you laugh," he said blushing lightly.  
She looked at him for a couple seconds and then laughed out of disbelief. "Okay," she said shaking her head and pouring herself more wine, "So what did you major in in college?"  
"Law," he answered, "I never took the bar exam though."  
"So other than studying law and dropping buckets of corn on people's heads," she said and gave him teasing look, "what did you do in college."  
"Not much actually.....played pool. It was my major source of income for a while there," he answered.  
"Playing pool. I can see it," she said.  
"We should play sometime," he suggested.  
"Yeah....we should," she agreed. A paused followed in which both said nothing.  
"So do you want to order?" she asked breaking the silence.  
Before he had a chance to answer they were interrupted by his phone ringing. He gave her an apologetic look and answered it.   
"Yeah?........Weiss, what's up?..............What?..........a head of schedule?............forty five minutes?............" he said into the phone a grim look crossing his face. Sydney picked her napkin up off her lap and pinched along the crease.  
"Yeah..........okay, we'll be there," he hung up and looked back at her.  
"We have to go," She she stated as he was still preparing himself to fill her in. He looked at her and nodded. She placed the napkin back on the table and they walked out the front door, both trying to hide their disappointment and failing miserably. 


	4. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

**Los Angeles**

The buzzer on Director Devlin's intercom distracted him from the paper work he was finishing.  
"Yes?" he asked, jamming the button.  
"Mr. Sloane is here to see you," his assistant's voice came over the intercom.  
"Send him in," Devlin said. He signed the last line on the form and placed in the outgoing basket for later. He sat back and rubbed his eyes. The last few months had been very stressful for him, and he knew that it was about to get a lot worse. As the door opened, he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do.  
"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Sloane asked as he entered the office.  
"Yes, Arvin. Sit down." Sloane did so.  
"You are aware of the problem The Agency has been having recently?" Devlin asked. Sloane made no response, but the look on his face told Devlin that he understood perfectly.  
"Internal Affairs has been looking into this problem for sometime and they have come to a conclusion," Devlin said the paused, "We found no evidence linking you."  
"But you have linked someone else?" Sloane asked.  
"Why would you say that?" Devlin asked.  
"Well if you didn't call me in to tell me I'm under arrest, then why else would I be here?" Sloane asked.  
Devlin did not make any kind of gesture, simply slid a folder across the desk.  
Sloane did a quick scan through the file and looked up a Devlin. "This is quite a bit of evidence," he commented.  
"I know," Devlin said, "I want you to check it out. See if it's genuine, make sure we aren't missing something here. Report back to me once you're finished."  
"Of course," Sloane said rising out of the chair, taking the file with him as he left the office. Once Sloane was gone Devlin sat back in his chair feeling a headache coming on. 

Sydney walked in the door of her house at about 10:30 PM Los Angeles time.  
"Hey, you're back!" Francie exclaimed from where she was sitting on the couch hold in a bowl of popcorn.  
"Yep," Sydney said and came over to join Francie on the couch, "What are you watching?"  
"The Wedding Singer," Francie said with an eye roll, "What can I say? There isn't much on tonight."  
"Uh hu," Sydney said munching on some popcorn from Francie's bowl distractedly.  
Francie turned to her, "Okay what's going on with you?"  
"What?" She asked. Francie gave her a look.  
"It's nothing.......I was just thinking," Sydney answered.  
"About what?"  
"Nothing."  
"Well it must be something! What it is a guy?" Francie said jokingly and then stopped laughing when she saw the look on Sydney's face, "Really? Who is he?"  
Sydney hesitated for a moment trying to decided if she should bluff her way out of the question then finally gave up, "Someone in my department."  
"Well tell me about him," Francie said.  
Sydney sighed and let Francie pull her head into the pillow on her lap, "We've worked together for about a year now."  
"What's his name?"  
"Michael. And he's... I don't know how to describe him. He's smart... and he's funny. He's so cute," she said.  
"Hot cute, not goofy cute?" Francie asked.  
"Hot cute," she affirmed, "It's just...........I don't know it's this whole complicated situation. Plus he as a girlfriend."  
"Of course he does," Francie snorted.  
"Which is ultimately irrelevant anyway. The office has a policy against coworkers dating," she explained.  
"Well so what? I mean all companies have policies like that but people still do it! I doubt they'd actually fire you for dating a co-worker as long as it didn't effect your work," Francie said.  
"Well that's the thing really. I don't know if it would. We work well together and we make a good team, but I don't know it might effect that if we tried to make this something more," she said.  
"Well, I don't know Syd, but I do know that I haven't heard you talk like this in forever. And if anyone deserves some happiness it's you. Maybe you and Michael are destined," Francie said.  
Sydney rolled her eyes, "I think you're getting a little a head of yourself."  
"Maybe," Francie said with a half skeptical smile. Sydney rolled her eyes again.  
"Well you know what? I'm zonked," Francie said yawning, "I'm going to bed."  
"Okay goodnight," Sydney said letting her up off the couch.  
"Night!" she responded.  
Once Francie left Sydney stretched out on the space she left on the couch. No matter how many times she reminded herself of the reasons it was not a good idea, her mind simply kept wondering back to that restaurant in France.

**Week Later**

Arvin Sloane sat at a metal table before the CIA board. He took a sip from the glass of water as they prepared their questions.  
"Mr. Sloane could you answer for the record how you became involved in this investigation?" the speaker asked.  
"Evidence was presented to me by Director Devlin. He asked me to review it and check for any alternate explanations that might have been missed," Sloane explained.  
"Director, will you state for the record that what Mr. Sloane says is true?" the speaker asked turning toward Devlin's seat at their long table.  
"Yes I will," Devlin nodded.  
"Thank you. Mr. Sloane could you tell us what your association with Agent Sydney Bristow is?"  
"I knew her parents. Her that Jack and I have worked together here at The Agency for many years. I consider her to be like my own daughter. I recruited her when she as in college and she worked in my department as a freelancer for seven years," Sloane answered.  
"Last year you recommended that she be transferred out of your department? Was there some particular reason for that?" the speaker asked.  
Sloane nodded, "Last year her fiancé Daniel Hecht wad killed by an unknown agency after Agent Bristow told him the nature of what she does for The Agency. We were unable to stop to assassination before it was carried through and she held me responsible. She grew very hostile and I soon realized that clearly if she continued working around me she would be of no use to herself or anyone, so I requested her transfer."  
"The evidence presented to you by Mr. Devlin shows Sydney Bristow has been stealing information from The Agency and filtering to an unknown source," the speaker said, "Were you aware that Ms. Bristow was a mole?  
"No I was not," Sloane said.  
"Do you believe that it was a grudge against you that caused Ms. Bristow to betray The Agency?"  
"I can't speculate one way or the other.  
The speaker shuffled around with his papers, "We understand that you have proposed a plan for how to handle Ms. Bristow?"  
"Yes," Sloane, "If you will all turn to page ten of your reports you will see my proposal. I believe that it would be beneficial for us to hold off arresting Sydney Bristow for a while. As far as we know she doesn't know that her cover has been blown. So we put her under surveillance we find out who she's working for, how much information she's leaked, and if there are any other doubles within The Agency."  
"I agree with Mr. Sloane's," one of the board members came in, "I propose that we follow is plan and allow him to head up the operation regarding Agent Bristow."  
"All those favor please indicate with a show of hands," the speaker said. All hands here raised.  
"Then it is agreed. Mr. Sloane you have the assignment of monitoring Sydney Bristow and figuring out whom she is working for."  
Sloane stood, "I will dedicate as much time as possible to doing so."


	5. Chapter 3

**Friday**

Sloane took a sip of coffee and leaned back in his chair. It had been a week since the board had put him in charge of Sydney's case. He had been working hard on it ever since. He paused and looked at her file that was open on his desk. He always had a bit of a soft spot for Sydney and was sorry this was happening to her but what had to be done had to be done. As expected his office door opened and a man stepped in. Sloane rose up to greet him.  
"Mr. Haladki, I presume?"   
"Yes Sir," Haladki answered shaking his hand.  
"Please have seat," Sloane said settling back into his own chair, "I understand that last year there was some tension between you and Agent Sydney Bristow. Is that true?"  
"It was about that whole prophecy thing. This was before we knew that the prophecy was about Bristow's mother-"  
"Yes, I read the report," Sloane interrupted, "The reason I asked is because I wanted to know why you were suspicious of Agent Bristow? Was there any particular reason?"  
"I felt that the situation required caution. I also felt and still feel that Agent Bristow could pose a risk to The Agency!" Haladki said imperatively.  
"Oh? And why do you feel that way?" Sloane asked genuinely interested.  
"Don't get me wrong she's a good agent, but she is also reckless. She disobeys orders sometimes, she takes unnecessary risks, and she allows her emotions to cloud her judgment. Not to mention the fact that she seems to impair the judgment of everyone around her," Haladki said his tone taking on whining tone.  
Sloane was getting rather annoyed with this Haladki person but something about his last sentence intrigued him, "What exactly do you mean by that?"  
Haladki looked at him for a moment as if trying to decide how to answer. 

Sydney finished the last line of her report and emailed it to Kendall. She stood up to stretch her back. As she turned around Vaughn stepped up beside her.  
"Hi," he said.  
"Hi," she answered. Neither of them spoke again. 'Awkward silences now......wonderful!' she thought to herself.  
"I just spoke to Kendall, he said that our intel indicates that the gyroscope we recovered was the only one Schatz and his colleagues had. There's been no sign that mass production of the gyroscopes began," he said.  
"That's good," she agreed, and waited for a moment, "Well I'm going to go home."  
"Okay, have a good weekend," he said.  
Part of her knew that she should simply say a polite 'thank you' and then get out of there, but something made her change her mind. "You like hockey, right? The Kings?"  
"Yeah, how'd you--" he started to ask.  
"The pen you keep in your briefcase. It's a Kings pen," she said.  
Yeah, I got it at STAPLES Center last year," he said.  
"Yeah....I hear they're playing the Islanders tomorrow night," she said a turned and walked away before he could say another word. 

Sloane dismissed Haladki ten minutes later after he had recounted his story. Even he would admit that Haladki was one of the most irritating men he had ever met, but he also had an obvious axe to grind and no qualms about back stabbing...........yes, this Haladki would be very useful indeed.   
Sloane made sure that all of the files he needed were out as he prepared for Jack to come in at any second. Sloane had known Jack Bristow for years and knew that Jack was going to be a major problem to this case. He had been furious when he found out Sloane recruited Sydney, so this time he was going to have to absolutely convince Jack that that he was the good guy and that they had no choice in this matter.  
As Jack walked in, him and Sloane acknowledged each other without speaking.  
"It's good to see you Jack. I asked you to come here today because there's something that I regret I have to inform you," Sloane said.  
Jack waited for him to continue.  
"Your daughter, Sydney, is a double agent," Sloane said bluntly.  
"I beg your pardon?" Jack asked.  
"I'm very sorry, Jack. Internal affairs has been conducting investigations for months," Sloane said flipping through his file, "and they've found conclusive evidence that-"  
Jack cut off Sloane be grabbing the file from his hands. Sloane stood silently as Jack read through the file.  
"As you can see we have photos, documents,.......we thought they might have been fabricated but sources confirm they are genuine," Sloane said.  
Jack looked up from the file with an expression on his face that Sloane had only seen twice, once after they found out his wife was KGB, and once last year when he found out she had been alive this whole time.   
"Do we know who she's working for?" He asked slowly.  
"No, that's what I plan to find out. As far as she knows her cover is still intact so I've been assigned to find out who she is working for and how much she has leaked," Sloane said.  
"Do you think that it could be her mother?" Jack his voice like solid concrete.   
"It's a possibility, but we can't automatically jump to that conclusion," Sloane said, "Jack.....you understand the kind of operation that will be involved in finding out who Sydney is working for. Right?"  
Jack looked at him icily in response.  
"I need to know that I have your support in this. And that you're not going to put your daughter before The Agency," Sloane said giving Jack a hard look.  
Jack looked up at him before finally saying, "I understand that you'll only do needs to be done."  
"Good," Sloane said walking around the desk to rest his hand on Jack's shoulder, "and I'll see to it that she is treated as fairly as possible.......you know I love her as if she were my own."  
At those words Jack gave Sloane another glare and turned to leave the office. 

**Saturday**

The next night as Sydney sat among the stands full of screaming jocks, she couldn't help but wonder to herself 'what the hell am I doing here?'. She had half a mind to just go home, crawl into a hot bath, and try to forget this momentary lapse in judgment. What was she thinking? Becoming emotionally involved with Vaughn was just not a good idea! Though, who was she kidding? Her and Vaughn were already had a connection that went beyond just colleagues and they both knew it. But still, was it a good idea to spend time together outside work? Or for that matter would he even get her ambiguous invitation? She still couldn't believe she had done that. At least he had the guts just to come out and ask her instead of trying to send veiled messages.  
She sighed and stared out at the ice watching the little truck like zambonis running over the ice.   
'Well, at least it's mildly entertaining watching those things' she thought to herself. Suddenly she turned as she felt a presence beside her. She turned around and Vaughn stood before her in jeans and a light windbreaker looking as if he had been expecting to find her the entire time.  
'Score one for unspoken communication'  
"Hi," she said.  
"Hey," he answered back.  
"So you came huh?" she commented.  
"I wouldn't miss it," he said softly his eyes seeming like they were looking strait through her.  
Finally she smiled and sat back down in the blue plastic chair. "You know it is rather juvenile of us to do this," she said.  
"Well no one's perfect," he said sitting down next to her.  
"So you going to take me through the finer points of this game?" she asked.  
"What do you want to know?"  
"So far.....where I can get myself one of those," she answered.  
"A zamboni?" he laughed.  
"What, they're cool!" she said laughing with him.  
"No, no," she said then added after a thought, "Listen, I hope I didn't keep you from any other plans you had tonight."  
"No, I didn't have any other plans," he said quickly.  
She simply nodded and kept her gaze pointed towards the ice.  
"Listen Syd, you should know that about-"  
"Vaughn," she interrupted, "You don't have to explain anything to me. I mean it's your business."  
"Yeah," he said, "but I want to tell you."  
She swallowed and braced herself. She honesty didn't want to listen but couldn't very well tell him that.  
"Alice and I did meet again last year and we've talked a couple times because of the trouble she was having with her father's illness, but we aren't dating.........we were over along time ago," he said, the implications behind his words more than obvious to both of them.  
She took a breath as she processed his words and gave a light smile as they both turned their attentions back to the players coming onto the ice. 

The next two hours were spent sipping over priced beer, cheering during good plays, and screaming after bad ones. All in all it was a surprisingly nice evening. It was one of the first times they could just be themselves around each other instead of being professional.  
They laughed together as they walked through the parking lot.  
"So Zamboni was your favorite part?" Vaughn asked.  
"Well not my very favorite part!" she said, he just laughed in response, "Oh shut up, okay!"  
They stopped once they reached her car.  
"This was fun," she said.  
"Yeah....." he agreed. They both stood silently not quite sure what to do next. 

Meanwhile an unseen observer watched the scene with disgust.   
"Come on you candyass make your move already!" he muttered. 

"Well I guess I'll see you at work on Monday," he said cringing at how pathetic that sounded.  
"Yeah, I'll see you," she said. Another pause followed. This was getting ridiculous.  
They stood silently for a couple more seconds before making a snap decision and leaning over to meet with each other's lips. The kiss was soft and tender, and stood out because it was one of the first moments the entire night that was not tense.  
Vaughn laughed to himself, 'So this is how you get past the awkwardness when trying to date a co-worker. Skip the actual dating and jump forward to the making out........I think I can live with that.' 

As Sydney and Vaughn were still caught up in their own little word that revolved around warm embraces and knee weakening kisses their observer was busily snapping away shot after shot onto the roll of film in his camera. 


	6. Chapter 4

Sydney walked into the joint task forces center the next morning over to where Vaughn, Kendall, Weiss, and a blonde woman were standing.  
"Folks, this is Christine Phillips, our new clandestine services graduate. Langley's approved her observing our operations over the next few months," Weiss explained as he introduced everyone.  
"I've read your operational file. It's a real honor," Agent Phillips said shaking Sydney's hand. Sydney smiled.  
"Sir, we've got a situation in Berlin. The networks are carrying it live. I'm putting it through central display," an agent said from across the room. On the TV screen a woman in a gray robe was standing in the middle of a street with explosives taped all over her.  
"Sir, that's Agent Wallace," Weiss said.  
"You know her?" Phillips asked.  
"She's one of ours," Vaughn said not looking away from the monitor.  
"Give me a better look at those explosives," Kendall ordered.  
"Looks like C-4," the agent responded.  
"If the C-4 is wired with a remote trigger, any radio communication could cause detonation. Patch me through to the federal office in Berlin!" Kendall said and turned to Sydney, "You speak German, right?"  
She nodded and he thrust the phone into her hands.  
"Tell them to put you through to the ranking officer on site. Tell him the woman is CIA and any random radio communication could detonate the explosives," he said.  
"I need to speak to the agent on site. I know he's in the middle of a tactical operation. I need to talk to him now," Sydney argued with the person on the other line in German. On the monitor the woman began to cry and sing through her sobs. Sydney recognized the song as Pop Goes the Weasel.  
Suddenly the officer came onto the line. "I'm an officer for the Central Intelligence Agency--" she began to explain.   
"I speak English," he cut her off.  
"We're monitoring the situation. Instruct all of your agents to shut down radio communication. This woman may be wired with a remote detonator. I repeat--"   
"Agent Bristow, I've already ordered radio silence," he interrupted again.  
On the screen Agent Wallace sang, "No patience to wait 'til time goes by...pop..."  
On the "pop" the explosives went off. In the operations center Phillips promptly fled the room and everyone else stood in a stunned silence.

**Later**

Jack picked up his glass of scotch of the bar in front of him, while in mid-sip Sloane slid into the seat next to him and ordered a club soda. Jack set down his glass and asked, "How'd you find me?"  
"You weren't answering your phone and I remembered we used to go here a long time ago. During happier times," Sloane answered.  
"Mike, can I get the check?" Jack said to the bartender as he gave Sloane his drink.  
"Jack... it's two o'clock in the afternoon. What are you doing here?"  
"You come to me and tell me that my daughter is a double agent, and then presume to cast judgment on my reaction to it?" Jack asked.  
"I understand how you feel Jack. I mean what I said in my office. The news of Sydney's betrayal gives me grief as well. The CIA has counselors to help it's agents deal with stresses such as these. I think you should see one of them," Sloane said.  
"I'll keep that in mind," Jack said in a tone that indicated he had no intention of even considering Sloane's suggestion.   
Sloane nodded, "I didn't think you'd listen to my advice. So I went to your direct superior Mr. Kendall. He assigned you to see counselor for trauma evaluation."  
With the Sloane tossed a five on the bar and left.

**Four Days Later**

Sydney walked through the operations center after having just finished giving her report to Kendall. It had been a stressful case, she was tired and more than ready for a break, and on top of everything her father had been acting strange lately. Normally if there was a problem he would either address it right away or ignore it, but now he seemed to be avoiding her whenever he could. It was unlike him and she couldn't even begin to guess why he was behaving in such a way.  
She stopped when she got to the main room and spotted Vaughn talking to Lennox across the room. They ended their conversation once they spotted her, tired to shake hands but didn't due to Lennox's bandaged hand. Vaughn headed back to his desk and Lennox walked up to her.  
She smiled at him, "Four weeks off. The least they could do."  
"Yeah, well, they offered me counseling but I haven't not worked in eight years," he said. Yet another thing that made her feel almost kindred to the man. They both had worked for so long that they didn't even know how to stop anymore, and they both had lost someone close to them.  
"Where are you headed?" she asked.  
"Fiji. I've never been there before. Emma and I were going to go for our honeymoon. She was from there," he explained.  
"I know. I knew her," she said.  
"You knew Emma?" he asked her with a perplexed expression  
"One thing about my fiancé -- I was lucky to have known him for as long as I did," she said.  
"Thank you," he nodded in understanding after a moment's pause.

After saying goodbye to Lennox, Sydney picked up her stuff and went home. She changed into a comfortable pair of jeans and a paisley button down. Her and Vaughn had made plans to have dinner together on their plane ride to Cayo Cancho, to make up for their failed date in Nice. She was exhausted but found that she was actually looking forward to it. It had been a long time since she cooked, and she liked the thought of just doing something normal such as spending an evening at home.  
When he arrived she was glad to find that he seemed to be just as casual as she was. They opened a bottle of wine and he watched as she moved around the kitchen fixing the dinner. She retrieved the salt from next to him on the counter and sprinkled some into the sauce simmering on the stove. She stirred the sauce, took a taste, and then turned to offer the spoon to Vaughn. He lightly grasped her wrist as he tasted it. She flipped the burner off and then leaned down to retrieve the bread warming in the oven. As she was reaching inside Vaughn took her by the arm and turned her back toward him. After a momentary pause they kissed. The kiss was deeper and more heavy that the one after their hockey date, but he remained gentle, resting his hands on her waist.  
"You're so beautiful," Vaughn said once they broke.  
"Dinner's ready," she said, noticing that her voice sounded breathless.   
"We do have an oven. You know, we can reheat," he responded. She smiled and kissed him again, pushing the over door closed with her foot.

A few miles away Sloane and Haladki sat across from each other in Sloane's office.  
"Did you get what I asked for Mr. Haladki?" Sloane asked.  
"Yeah eventually," Haladki answered irritably, "though it certainly took long enough."  
Sloane ignored Haladki's complaining and took the pictures from him. He smiled lightly as he flipped through them. Sloane had formulated a plan when he heard about this agent she had apparently become close to.......Vaughn, and so far everything was falling into place perfectly.


	7. Chapter 5

**April 4, 7:13 am**

"How are we going to stay awake today?" Sydney laughed the next morning.  
"Who cares?" Vaughn responded running his hand along her shoulder.   
"What's wrong?" he asked as she stared at him with a far away look in her eye.  
She shrugged, "I don't know it's just. It's been a rough year, but I feel like now......I have my life back."  
He processed her words and then snaked an arm around her waist to pull her over for a kiss.  
"What are doing?" she asked pulling back lightly.  
"Making us late for work," he answered simply.

**8:15 am**

"Glad you finally decided to show up!" Weiss said immediately upon spotting him at the Joint Task Forces center.  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a whole fifteen minuets late," Vaughn said sarcastically as he settled down at his desk.  
Weiss rolled his eyes and took a seat next to him, "So.....anything been happening with Sydney?"  
"Like what?" Vaughn asked innocently.  
Weiss raised an eyebrow then grinned, "Oh, you go buddy! Well done!"  
Vaughn rolled his eyes this time, "Weiss."  
"Okay, okay, I'll shut up," Weiss said, "On an unrelated note. You got a message, you're supposed to go see Director Sloane at our main headquarters."  
"Sloane? Why?"  
"I have no idea, I'm just the messenger," Weiss said.  
"Okay thanks," Vaughn said.  
"You got it," Weiss called after him.  
Vaughn headed back out to his car and turned toward the main headquarters wondering why Sloane would want to see him. Sydney used to work for him didn't she? Maybe she knew something about this? No, she'd hardly spoken to him since she was reassigned, and, hearing what had happened with her fiancé, he wasn't surprised.

He parked in front of headquarters and went inside. Showing his badge at the front desk he informed the receptionist that he had an appointment with Director Sloane. He was given directions to Sloane's office, and was shown in immediately upon arriving there.  
Sloane himself arrived ten minutes later.   
"Michael Vaughn? I'm Arvin Sloane. Thank you for coming by," Sloane shook his hand and then gestured to a chair, "Please have a seat."  
Vaughn did so but Sloane remained standing in front of the large glass desk in the middle of the almost bare office.  
"What is your relationship with Agent Sydney Bristow?" Sloane asked.  
The question threw him for a brief second, "Agent Bristow has been working on the same operation I am assigned to for a year and a half now."  
"Yes, Agent Vaughn, I'm the one who had her transferred. I'm well aware of that fact," Sloane said, "I meant what is your personal relationship with Agent Bristow."  
"I'm not sure I understand the question,"  
Sloane looked at him, "I think you understand very well, Agent Vaughn."  
This was getting weird. They couldn't have found out already could they? No, surely not. This was probably just speculation, the same thing had happened last year. He decided to try a different approach, "Sydney and I work together quite a bit. We get along well and I would consider us friends, yes."  
Sloane gave an amused chuckle.  
"Well I do hope so, because I certainly would never do this with someone I consider my enemy," he said and dropped a picture of him and Sydney kissing in front of him. From the clothes he was wearing in the photo he recognized them to be from the night they went to the Kings game. Shit! Where did those come from?  
After a very long pause Vaughn looked back up at Sloane and carefully asked, "Why are you showing me these?"  
"I want to know about you and Sydney's relationship," Sloane answered.  
"What about it?" Vaughn asked beginning to feel very irritated.  
"Are you in love with her?" Sloane threw out.  
"I....what does that have to do with anything?" Vaughn demanded.  
Sloane sighed, "I think you would be interested to know Mr. Vaughn, that Sydney is a double agent."  
"I beg your pardon?"  
Sloane handed Vaughn a folder and gave him a look that said 'see for yourself'. Vaughn flipped through the folder finding accounts where Sydney had supposedly leaked information from the CIA, sabotaged operations, even pictures to go along with them.  
"These could have easily been fabricated," Vaughn said.  
"That was our first thought too. However, investigations into this have been going on for months. They all reached the same conclusion. Sydney is a double agent," Sloane repeated firmly.  
Vaughn looked back at the folder. This was impossible. This was Sydney they were taking about. His Sydney. She was the last person they should suspect of being a double agent. She would never betray her country, never.   
However the evidence was sitting right there in front of him. He suddenly felt like he wanted to throw up. He tried to get a hold on his thoughts but could not. He cleared his throat and spoke softly, "Why have you told me this?"  
"Well of all people I'd say you're someone who should definitely know this information," Sloane said.  
Vaughn did not understand his reasoning behind this. If they suspected him of being a double agent also then they would not have given away that he had been discovered, so if they didn't suspect him also then the fact that him and Sydney had started dating should be the least of their concerns.  
Sloane seemed to anticipate his question, "Why do you think, now that you know Sydney is a double, that she has become involved with you?"  
That was a good question actually. "I don't know," he answered honestly.  
"Well from the point of view of a game theorist I would say that there are two possibilities," Sloane said, "You know who Irina Derevko is correct?"  
"Sydney's mother,"  
"Yes, she was assigned to get close to to Jack because he was a ranking CIA officer. You are a senior officer yourself so it is possible that part of Sydney's assignment is to use you to steal information. If this is her objective then you need to know to prevent it from happening," Sloane said.  
"Is that her objective?" Vaughn cut in.  
"We don't know," Sloane answered then continued on, "The other possibility is that Sydney does actually have feelings for you.......loves you maybe-"  
They way Sloane said 'love' made Vaughn want to punch him.   
"If that is the case then it would be very useful to us-"  
"Useful how?" Vaughn asked getting the feeling he would not like the answer.  
"Well Michael, emotional attachments on the side your working against are weaknesses for double agents," Sloane explained this as if he were telling a three year old that there was no Santa Clause. It was sickening.  
"You mean you want me to spy on Sydney?" Vaughn said the anger evident in his voice.   
"I have just told you that Sydney is a double agent. I think you should take some time to think about what's more important to you national security or your girlfriend," Sloane said.  
Vaughn fixed him with a glare that could freeze molten steel. Sloane ignored it.   
"Once you have, we want you to make a copy of Sydney's hard drive so we can see if there is any useful information on it," Sloane handed Vaughn a small device and gave him an almost smug look.   
'Bastard,' Vaughn thought to himself. 

Vaughn managed to get out of the office without showing much emotion. The last thing he wanted to do was show vulnerability in front of Sloane. Outside he felt as if he could hardly feel his feet as they carried him down the hall. He suddenly became aware that someone was speaking to him.   
It was Steven Haladki. A junior agent who had worked with them last year. He was also a first class pain in the ass. For almost the entire year he had run around causing trouble wherever he could.  
"Hey, Vaughn. What's up? Don't see you around here much anymore," Haladki said, not bothering to hide the underlying bitterness in his voice. When their operation was moved to the joint task forces center permanently, Haladki was the only agent originally assigned who was moved to another case instead of going along.  
"What do you want Haladki?" he snapped.  
"Hey, just being friendly! Jeez, lighten up!" Haladki said in his usual whining tone. Vaughn sighed, he was not at all in the mood to deal with him right now.   
"Look I'm really in a hurry," Vaughn said hoping Haladki would get the hint.  
"Oh yeah of course! I'm sure you have a hockey game or something you have to get to right?" Haladki said.  
Vaughn looked at him in shock. Haladki's face formed a self satisfied smirk.  
"You son of a bitch!" Vaughn grabbed the weasel by the lapels of his suit and shoved him up against the wall. The smirk was almost instantly gone.   
"Hey, hey! I hardly think it's my fault the girl you're boffing is a traitor! Maybe if you'd stayed away from her like you were supposed to you wouldn't be in this situation," Haladki said.  
"I think I'm going to kick your ass!" Vaughn shot back.  
"Agent Haladki!" Sloane's voice cut in sharply. They both turned to see him standing at the door to his office.  
"I need to speak with you in my office right now!" he snapped, his voice just on the verge of yelling. Haladki shoved Vaughn away from him and strutted into Sloane's office. Sloane said nothing to Vaughn, he simply slammed the door firmly behind them once Haladki was inside.  
Vaughn sighed and continued to the elevator where the pressed the button for the ground floor.


	8. Chapter 6

**April 4, 5:40 pm**

"Hey, where have you been hiding all day?" Weiss joked walking over to Vaughn.  
"Mostly in the parking garage," Vaughn muttered to himself.  
"What?" Weiss asked.  
"Nothing," Vaughn said irritably.  
"You're in a mood," Weiss said.  
Vaughn sighed, "I just have a lot on my mind."  
"Oh," Weiss said, "Hey, I know something that will make you feel better. You remember our friend Haladki? Well rumor has it that he got suspended this morning. Don't know what for though."  
'It might have something to do with him shouting top secret information in an open hallway,' Vaughn thought to himself.  
Weiss looked at him for a minute waiting for a reaction, "Come on man, what's the matter?"  
Vaughn looked at Weiss for a minute then shook his head, "It's nothing important, Weiss. I'll be fine."  
"Are you sure? Because if you need to talk then I'd be happy to take you to get drunk and pretend to listen while you spill," Weiss responded grinning.  
Vaughn chuckled, "Nah, that's okay.  
"Alright then, see you tomorrow," Weiss said.  
"Yeah, see you," Vaughn muttered as he slipped on his jacket and got ready to leave the command center. 

**6:30 pm**

"Vaughn, did you hear about this operation that they sent my dad on in Bangkok?" Sydney asked when they arrived at her house.  
"I did this afternoon but he was already gone by then," Vaughn answered.  
"Well isn't that weird? That he wouldn't even tell us?" she asked.  
"Well maybe it was classified," he said.  
"I suppose, but still I think he would tell me," she said, Vaughn could hear the pain in her voice.  
"I wouldn't read too much into it, Syd," he said and instinctively ran his hand down her arm, "I know your father has deceived you before, but I don't think now is one of those times. He probably just didn't want to burden you."  
"You're probably right," she sighed and then forced a smile, "It's probably nothing."  
"Well, I'm going to go take a shower. If you want a drink or something just ummm....help yourself," she finished softly. He smiled as she walked to the bathroom and the water started up. He set his briefcase down on the floor and walked into the kitchen. He found a bottle of beer in her fridge and took a sip. As he turned back toward the living room he noticed her the case with her laptop computer in it sitting on the counter.   
He set the bottle down and slid the computer out of the case. He opened it and flipped the switch to 'on'. At a cursory glance her desktop seemed perfectly normal, but that didn't necessarily mean there was nothing suspicious to be found. He looked up toward the hallway where the bathroom was. The water was still running behind the closed door. He slipped the device Sloane had given him out of his pocket and held it for a minute.   
He could do it before she got out of the shower, copying the hard drive would only take a couple minutes, and if he did it then it would clear everything up. At least he would know for sure if he made the copy. He suddenly realized what he was about to do. He shoved the device back into his pocket, flipped off her computer and pushed it back into the case. He went into the living room feeling a little shaken by what had almost happened. A couple minutes later he heard the water stop and Sydney's footsteps down the hallway. He sighed and looked at the beer in his hand, getting the feeling that he might need more than one that night. 

**April 5, 9:45 am**

Vaughn was horrendously late. He had stayed at Sydney's the night before but while she lay next to him asleep all night he stayed awake alternating between staring at the ceiling, and then her, and then back to the ceiling. By the time her alarm clock went off at 7:00 he had gotten about a half an hour of sleep. He went home immediately to get ready for work. He gave Donovan food and water and then got in the shower. He didn't remember the time passing, but the next thing he realized the water was ice cold and it was almost 9:00 already.  
From there a traffic jam had made him even more late, but he felt so awful that he barely even cared about how Kendall would react. At the moment crawling into the storm drain that had backed up and caused the traffic jam sounded pretty good.  
A horn from the car behind him alerted him to the fact that his lane had started moving. He pressed down on the accelerator and began moving. As he watched the street disinterestedly, he caught a glimpse of a car parked in front of a cafe to his left. He quickly turned around and headed back toward the cafe. He parked about a half a block down and walked up to it. It looked like Sydney's car. He discreetly peered in the back seat. Yep it definitely was Sydney's, the first aid kit and blue jacket that she always kept in the back were there. Why was Sydney here though? She should be at work by now.  
He felt himself starting to get suspicious. 'There's a perfectly rational explanation,' he thought, but found himself walking in the door of the cafe anyway. He blended himself into the line of people waiting at the counter, and scanned the room for any sign of Sydney. She was standing in line ahead of him. What was she doing? Was she talking to someone? It looked like she was but he couldn't tell exactly.  
He moved a bit to get a better view of her, and then swore to himself when she turned around. He moved back over behind some of the people near him and waited until she passed. Once he felt confidant that she had left without seeing him, he got out of the line and went back toward the door. As he stepped out into the street he expected to see her car going down the road but it was still empty and parked in the same spot.  
'Damnit! Where did she go?'  
Just as he was about to look around he heard a voice from behind him, "Vaughn?"  
'Damnit again!' 

Is anyone even reading this? If you are please REVIEW!!!! PLEASE!


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